10' to Kill
10' to Kill Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 16 characters (16 character tiles)
- 3 police characters
- 16 location tiles
- 1 reminder sheet
- 16 black locking clips
- 3 white locking clips
- 1 first player token
- 4 hitman tokens
Unpacking: Carefully remove all characters and tiles from cardboard. Put all characters in the locking clips (white for the policemen, black for the others).
Set Up
Create a playing board with the 16 location tiles. You can organize it as you like, but each tile must be adjacent to at least one other tile.
Take 2 policemen and put them on the side of the board (3 for a 2-player game). Take the other characters and place them randomly on the board, one character per tile.
Take the character tiles, shuffle them and build a pile on the side of the board.
Each player draws a character tile from the pile. That tile indicates the player's hitman. He places it on his right side of the board, face down, with his hitman token on it.
Then, each player draws 3 more character tiles from the pile. Those tiles indicate the player's targets. He places them on his left side of the board, face down.
Discard all the character tiles that remain into the box. They must not be revealed.
Choose a first player, for example the one who killed someone last (some noisy neighbour, annoying mother-in-law, or really hard boss in a video game). He takes the first player token.
All character tiles must remain hidden from the other players. A player may consult his own tiles any time he wants.
Each character tile is unique. They represent the characters on the board. Thus, each player has a unique hitman and targets. Nobody can share the same objectives.
NB: For the entire game, a location tile is considered adjacent if it connects with at least another tile by one of its four sides. Diagonals do not count.
Playing the Game
On his turn, a player chooses 2 actions among 3:
- Move a character (policemen included) on the board.
- Kill a character.
- Investigate a character's identity using a policeman.
A player may choose the same action twice in the same turn with the exception of Kill a character. A player may only ever kill one character per turn.
Moving a Character
A player can move any character on the board he wants, including policemen. To move a character, take it and put it on any other location tile.
NB: Players can move ANY character, not only their hitman or targets!
Killing a Character
Once per turn, a player may kill a character on the board:
- A character can only be killed with the player's hitman.
- The hitman must use one of the three weapons he's armed with: either the Revolver, the Sniper rifle, or the Knife (you may use any weapon at each killing).
- The hitman must not be seen killing his target.
A hitman is seen if:
- He uses the Revolver or the Sniper rifle when another character is on the same tile as his. If the hitman uses the Knife, he is not seen by the non-policeman characters on his tile (see killing with the Knife).
- A policeman is on the same tile as the hitman or an adjacent one, even if the hitman uses a Knife (see The Police).
A character can be killed even if he's sharing his tile with another character.
There are 3 different ways to kill in the game:
The Revolver
The Revolver allows a hitman to kill a character on a tile adjacent to his. The hitman must be alone on his tile to use the Revolver (first rule of 10' to kill: don't use your weapon in public!).
Example: If my hitman is the giraffe, she can kill the walrus. She is adjacent to him and alone on her tile. However, if my hitman is the panther, she cannot kill the walrus because she is not alone on her tile. She would be seen if she tries.
The Sniper Rifle
The Sniper rifle allows a hitman to kill any character whose location tile is orthogonal to the hitman's. The Sniper rifle can be used from any distance but may never shoot diagonally. Shooting through empty gaps between location tiles is allowed. Other characters do not block a Sniper rifle's line-of-sight.
A hitman must be on a location tile with the "target" symbol to use the Sniper rifle. The tiles with this symbol can be identified with their blue-colored edges. The hitman must be alone on his tile to use a Sniper rifle (second rule of 10' to kill: do not use your weapon in public!).
Example: If my hitman is the crocodile, he can kill the walrus. The hitman is alone on his tile, the tile has the "target" symbol and the walrus is in a straight line with the crocodile. However, if my hitman is the cat, he cannot kill the walrus because he is not alone on his tile, even if he is on a tile with the "target" symbol.
The Knife
The Knife allows a hitman to kill any character occupying the same tile as his. Thanks to this weapon's discreet nature, the Knife can be used even if there are other characters on the tile. The use of a Knife is unnoticeable by other characters except the policemen.
Example: If my hitman is the wolf, she can kill the walrus with the Knife because they are on the same tile. The kangaroo can't see them.
When a player performs a kill, he takes the victim and says: "This character has been killed". The player never tells or reveals the character he used to do it or the weapon he used. Because keeping the hitman's secret identity is an essential part of the game, players should try to kill with as many different suspects as possible. But remember, a hitman can only kill someone if he is not seen by other characters or policemen!
With your first few games, name all potential suspects of a killing when it's performed. This can help to avoid involuntary mistakes. If such a mistake occurs, the player who did wrong keeps the point earned from this killing but loses his hitman. If you have already played several games, you lose your hitman and you don't earn the point for this killing. The hitman is removed from the board as well as the matching character tile. The players who lost their hitman keep playing with the policemen to capture other players' hitmen.
Consequences of a Kill
When a character is killed, he is removed from the board and put in front of the player who killed him:
- If the character is one of the player's targets, the player reveals the matching character tile and places the killed target on it, standing.
- If the character is not one of his targets, the player asks if it is another player's hitman to everyone. If it is, the player who lost his hitman reveals his hitman tile and gives it to the player who killed it. The player places the character on it, lying down. If not, the player keeps the killed character in front of him, standing. He will suffer negative points at the end of the game (see End of the Game).
NB: If another player accidentally kills one of your targets, you must reveal the corresponding tile but you will not earn the corresponding prestige points. The other player will get negative points at the end of the game. For you, this is one less character to kill to end the game.
Afterwards, all characters on the same tile as the victim (the witnesses) flee the crime scene. To do so, the next player takes all the remaining characters from the tile and places them anywhere he wants on the board. Each of them must be placed on a different tile. He then takes a policeman from the side of the board and adds it into play. If there is no more policeman left, he takes a policeman already into play instead. In both cases, he places the policeman on the tile where the character has been killed.
The Police
Policemen can be moved like any other character in the game. Any player may move a policeman using the Moving a character action.
A policeman is a specific character that always witnesses a hitman's attempts if he's occupying the same or directly adjacent tile (no diagonal), even if the hitman uses a Knife!
Example: In this setup, the tiger is the only character who can kill the kangaroo. A player can kill the kangaroo only if his hitman is the tiger. But it wouldn't be very wise since the tiger would be the only possible suspect in that case…
Investigate a Character's Identity
A player can choose to investigate the identity of a character on the board. Identity checks are performed only by policemen. To check another player's identity, the policeman must be on the same tile. The player who wishes to check someone's identity selects a character from the same tile as a policeman and asks a designated player: "Is this your hitman?"
- If the character is the player's hitman, he must reveal it. The player who successfully identified the hitman takes the hitman's character and the matching tile and places them in front of him. The player who lost his hitman is still in the game. He cannot kill any more characters, however he may still investigate other characters' identity using policemen, potentially revealing them as hitmen and earning prestige points as a result.
- If the character is not the player's hitman, nothing happens. The player has just wasted his action.
If a player checks a character's identity and that character is your target, you must not say anything. Additionally, if another player checks the identity of your character but names a different player, nothing happens. Your hitman is safe for now…
A player is never eliminated from the game. Even when he has lost his hitman, the player is still in play and may even win by successfully checking the identity of other players' hitmen.
End of the Game
The game ends when a player successfully eliminates his 3 targets (players finish the turn according to the first player position) OR when all hitmen have been killed or discovered. When the game is over, players count their prestige points according to what they have in front of them. The winner is the player with the most points. If there's a tie, the player who lost his hitman last is the winner.
Scoring:
| Result | Points |
|---|---|
| Player's hitman still alive and not arrested by the police | 2 pts |
| Each target killed | 1 pt |
| Other player's arrested hitman | 1 pt |
| Other player's killed hitman | 3 pts |
| Innocent victim killed | -1 pt |
| Policeman killed | -1337 pts |
A Piece of Advice
Mistakes may happen during first few games. To avoid them, carefully check that you can indeed kill someone before doing so:
- Your hitman is alone on his tile if he's using the Revolver or the Sniper rifle.
- There's no policeman with your hitman or on a tile adjacent to your hitman's.
10 minutes to kill is a quick game to play, so even if you make a mistake in your first game, you'll get it right in no time!
Special Thanks
Author's thanks:
I would like to thank the members of the Tuesday proto nights: Mathieu, Ghislain, Cédric, Florent and all the other players who tested 10' to kill and helped with its design. Thank you Nicholas for your helpful advice for the design. I also would like to thank le Nid Cocon Ludique for their warm welcome. A big thank you to my friends: Thibal, Mathieu, Cédric, Micha and Benjamin for their help and tips. At last, I really would like not to thank my wife who never took part in the design of the game in any way.
Publisher's thanks:
We want to thank Paille édition, our French distributor for their support, their trust and the good mood of their staff. Thank you to Marcus, our Belgium distributor, for his hospitality and his very warm welcome. Thanks again to le Nid Cocon Ludique for letting the French backers from Kickstarter withdraw the game at their place. We want to thank Pauline Détraz for her professionalism, her availability and her talent. Many thanks to Tric-Trac for the amazing job they do around board games in general. We would really like to thank M. Guillaume, Docteur Mops, and Mister Jamie for their precious advice when we went to the « officine » before the Kickstarter campaign. Thank you to the volunteers at the fairs: you were always very friendly and the game would not be the same without you.
At last, we would really like to thank our 2621 backers who supported us on Kickstarter. If you have this game in your hands, it's mainly thanks to them. Thank you from the bottom of our heart!